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DNR to begin extensive creosote removal on Bainbridge

Creosoted pilings off Strawberry Plant are slated for removal next week.

— image credit: Brad Camp/File Photo

More than 100 pilings off the Strawberry Plant property on Eagle Harbor are slated for removal next week, as the Department of Natural resources begins another round of creosote removal in Kitsap County.

According to a DNR press release, a contractor will pull roughly 60 creosote-treated pilings from private tidelands in Eagle Harbor and Port Madison, then clean more than 30 tons of chemical-treated debris from Hawley Cove and Wing Point (See a map of planned removal sites at the bottom of this page).

DNR Friday announced a $196,383 contract with Lake Shore Marine Construction of Mukilteo for creosote removal from around Kitsap County, as part of an ongoing Puget Sound Initiative project.

The city requested piling removal from Strawberry Plant more than a year ago. The creosoted pilings once supported a packing plant.

On Wednesday, the council is set to approve piling removal from city-owned property as part of its consent agenda. DNR is covering the roughly $58,000 cost of removal at Strawberry Plant.Ten concrete pilings will be left at the site.

DNR Restoration Manager Monica Shoemaker said piling removal must be completed before Feb. 28, when a fish window closes. Beach cleanup may continue into March.

DNR began its creosote removal program in 2004 and has since removed 5,997.18 tons of pilings and debris from Puget Sound. State scientists believe toxins in creosote are damaging to marine species and habitat. Piling removal has been contested by some on Bainbridge who say the structures serve as historical landmarks.

DNR conducted its first cleanup on Bainbridge in March 2008, pulling 50 tons of treated wood from Fay Bainbridge State Park. Shoemaker said cleanup is needed at the park again this year because more treated wood has washed ashore.

"It's kind of a constant cleanup," she said.

Read more on the planned creosote removal. DNR released a map of planned removal sites:

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